In the past when I’ve thought about moving to a new place, some cities don’t quite fit me because they aren’t eroded enough. I’m drawn to erosion for some reason, it’s like seeing all of history inside an object or scene. David Lynch said it better - “When you see an aging building or rusted bridge, you are seeing nature and man working together… man has built it and nature has added into it.”

When people build things and then, for whatever reason, abandon them completely, nature quickly starts adding into it. This erosion is captivating, and reveals layers of history, character and texture of the people who left. Sometimes everything is left behind in mid-use, place settings on the tables, machinery prepped to run, a still life frozen for vines and rust to overcome.

Take a look at the great haikyo photographs on these sites:
Spiral - Research (my favorite is this abandoned amusement park); ruin-Japan; Haimono ruins photo; and Shinichiro Kobayashi.

Two books by haikyo photographer Shinichiro Kobayashi:
Deathtopia and Ruins

Learn Japanese (Rosetta Stone) and travel to Japan (Travelocity).